Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius (reigned circa 578 BC-c. 534 BC) was the sixth king of Rome, according to the city's traditional history. Successor of Tarquinio Prisco, 44 years of reign are attributed to him until he was assassinated by his own daughter Tulia, in complicity with his son-in-law Tarquinio the Proud, who occupied the throne in his place.
Son of Ocrisia, a slave captured by the Romans after the capture of the Latin city of Corniculum, and raised in the royal palace, he gained the favor of Tarquinio Prisco and, thanks to the support he received from his widow Tanaquil, he happened on the throne when he was assassinated. According to an alternative version, whose main source is the Emperor Claudius, he would be identified with the Etruscan character named Mastarna.
Servius Tullius is remembered as one of the most admired kings of Rome, to the point of being considered almost as a second founder and the true creator of the concept of Roman citizenship, with the introduction of the census, the reform of the army and expanding the city limits. In classical times he was credited with building the walls of Rome, the so-called Servian walls.
Origin
Roman tradition
According to Roman tradition Servius Tullius was of servile origin, the son of Ochresia (or Ocrisia) a slave captured when Tarquinius Priscus took the Latin city of Corniculus. Raised in the royal palace, it is said that one day his head was covered in flames without suffering the slightest damage, which, being considered a sign of divine favor, earned him the favor of the king and his wife Tanaquil and marked the beginning of his promotion until, as an adult, he began to assume positions of responsibility in the government (Dion. Hal., Ant. Rom., 4.3).
Although apparently none of the kings of Rome were of patrician origin, already in antiquity it was strange that Servius Tullius was a slave by birth, it has even been suggested without much foundation that the legend arose as a consequence of a popular etymology of his name (servus means 'slave'). Thus, according to other sources, Ocresia would really be the widow of an aristocrat from Corniculum that Tanaquil welcomed as a lady-in-waiting (Liv., Hist. Rom., 1.39.5). Finally, some legends allude to her conception by some divinity, a lar familiaris or Vulcan himself.
It is possible that this news reflects that the kings of Rome really sought to legitimize their power based on their close relationship with some gods. Thus, one of the most important monuments in Rome was the Volcanale, of uncertain location in the Cometium and closely related, if not coincidental, with the sanctuary of the Lapis Niger, in some of whose oldest phases, dated from the VI, shards of black-figure pottery depicting Hephaestus, the Vulcan of Greek mythology, have been found.
The Etruscan version
However, there is another version of the origins of Servius Tullius based on Etruscan sources, known thanks to a speech that the Emperor Claudius gave in the Senate before a delegation from Gaul in the year 48 AD. c.:
If we follow our own sources, he was the son of a captive called Ocrisia; instead, if we follow the Etruscans, he was at first the most faithful friend of Celio Vibenna and participated in all his walks. Later, impelled by a change of fortune, he left Etruria with what remained of the army of Celio and occupied the hill of the same name, to which he named his former captain. Servio changed his name (because in Etruscan it was called Mastarna), and received the one I used, reaching the throne for greater glory of the state.Table of Lyon. ILS212.I.8-27.
This alternative seems completely unknown to Roman analytical sources, but Celes Vibenna is cited by antiquarians such as Varro or Verrio Flaccus, and both he and his brother Aulus are prominent figures in the Etruscan tradition. Their names appear in the archaeological record on both bronzes and ceramics, even in contemporary contexts: a bucchero from Veii could be an offering from Avile Vipiienas himself.
Fresco de la Tomba François (Vulci, s.IVa. C.).
However, the most important Etruscan testimony is that of the François Tomb, discovered in 1857 in Vulci and dated to approximately 340 BC. C., where a wall painting reflects a scene alluding to the history of the city facing, on the opposite wall, a parallel episode from the Iliad in which Trojan prisoners are sacrificed during Patroclus' funeral. In the fresco they are identified by their names Caile Vipinas, Macstrna (holding two swords and untying the first, both on the far left), Rasce (eliminating Pesna Arcmsnas Sveamach), Avle Vipinas (who kills the armored character, Venthical [...]plsachs), and Marce Camitlnas who, according to the interpretation, would have been taken prisoner and are freed by his partner Larth Ulthes (the only one who appears in a robe and who stabs Laris Papathnas Velznach ). Among the captors, depicted on the far right, is Cneve Tarchunies Rumach whom Marce Camitlnas is about to run through with his sword.
The enemies are represented with their names (Rumach, from Rome, probably Velznach from Volsinii and Sveamach from Sovana, while for [...]plsachs both Salpinum and the ethnonym for 'falisco') have been suggested so the painting could refer to a war between Vulci and Rome, both accompanied by their respective allies, at the time of the Tarquinians and give rise to the theory that "Gneo Tarquinius of Rome" was the same Tarquinius Priscus who was succeeded by Servius Tullius/Mastarna (it has been proposed that this last Etruscan name could come from the Latin word magister, appearing in various Roman official positions). However, the praenomen of Tarquinio Priscus was Lucio, although this could correspond to the Etruscan lauchme, 'king', and therefore have replaced the original; nor is it clear that Claudius' deduction in identifying the Mastarna of the Etruscan sources with the Servius Tullius of the Romans was based on solid evidence. However, it is a reconstruction that has broad support among specialists.
Ascension to the throne
Servius, after gaining the favor of Tarquinio and Tanaquil, married Tarquinia, the king's daughter, called Gegania in some sources (Plutarch. Fort. Rom. 10.1). When Tarquinio was killed by two hired assassins hired by the sons of Anco Marcio, who were trying to inherit the throne that had corresponded to his father, Tanaquil ordered the announcement of the king's death to be delayed and told the people, leaning out of a window, that while was restored, the king had chosen Servius Tullius to rule in his name. Meanwhile, the Martians were exiled and after a few days, the situation under control, the official announcement of the king's death was made, whose funerals Servius Tullius presided over in his first official act (Liv., Hist. Rom., 1.40). The Tanaquil announcement has also been linked to a famous motif, that of "the goddess of the window", widespread in Cyprus and other areas of the Near East, in which the new king celebrated an engagement sacred, which could actually mean spending the night in the temple with a priestess, at the conclusion of which the goddess would appear and announce her approval of the appointment.
Another indication of the representation of divine favor is found in the temple dedicated to Fortuna and Mater Matuta in the Forum Boario, near the port of the Tiber. It is a sculptural group (dating approximately 540/530 BC) made up of the figures of Heracles and Minerva, which presents the former to the other Olympic gods. This suggests the contemporary analogy of Pisistratus's entry into Athens, mounted on a chariot and accompanied by a girl dressed in armor in the manner of Athena (Herodotus, Hist., 1.60), when both the tyrant Greek as the king of Rome identified themselves with Heracles/Hercules.
Servio Tullio's accession to the throne took place irregularly, without respecting the interregnum, without the vote of the people and without the ratification of the Senate. Titus Livy and Cicero ( Rep. 2.37) affirm in fact that he was the first to reign without submitting to the popular vote, a circumstance that Tarquinius the Proud later used to try to justify the usurpation of the throne.
Reforms attributed to his reign
The Servian Walls
Servius Tullius was traditionally credited with the construction of the so-called Servian walls, the ancient fortifications of the city from the Republic period which, with a length of about 11 kilometers, covered 427 hectares and included the seven hills However, archaeological studies indicate that these walls correspond to the IV century BC. C. and were built with stone from the quarries of Grotta Oscura located in the territory of Veii, a city that was conquered by the Romans in 396 B.C. C. Tito Livio comments on the burdens that its construction caused the town and places it in the year 378 BC. C., after the sack of Rome by the Brennos Gauls (Liv., Hist. Rom., 6.32.1).
It is possible that the confusion in the sources is due to the fact that these walls were built following the layout of previous ones. Remains of capellaccio walls are preserved on the Aventine, although in the VI century the area was not it was included in the city enclosure and, therefore, perhaps what should be attributed to Servius Tulio is the agger, an embankment that defended the most vulnerable area, the one that linked the Quirinal and the Viminal with the Esquiline. Consequently, and contrary to what was assumed in antiquity, Rome would not have complete fortifications at the time of the kings, as the very fact of its capture by the Gauls seems to confirm.
The Pomerium
There is also a coincidence in the sources in attributing to Servius the layout of the sacred boundary of the city, the pomerium. As the legendary founder, it was often taken for granted that Romulus drew up a pomerium, but it is possible that later the establishment of a city without the corresponding rite was not conceived (in fully historical times it was used in the foundation of the Roman colonies) and Tito Livio speaks of it for the first time in relation to Servio Tulio. The tradition was of Etruscan origin and was carried out by harnessing an ox to a plow and drawing furrows around the perimeter of the new city. The Servian pomerium was marked with earthen markers (cippi) that delimited a city divided into four regions: Suburana, Esquiline, Hill and Palatina (Varro, De lingua Latina, 5.45-5.143). This layout remained basically unchanged until the time of Sulla. The total area was about 245 hectares, making Rome the largest city in Lazio, comparable only to the great Etruscan and Greek cities of the 18th century VI a. Altogether, at the end of the monarchical period, it is estimated that the population of Rome had reached 35,000 inhabitants and directly dominated a territory of more than 800 km².
The tribes
Probably the most important of the reforms attributed to Servius Tullius, due to its political implications and because it is the basis for the reorganization of the Roman army, is the one that refers to the organization of the population. The three archaic tribes of the Ramnes, Ticies and Luceres (traditionally related respectively to the Latins, Sabines and Etruscans), were replaced by the four corresponding to the new urban regions: the Suburana, Esquiline, Colina and Palatina tribes. There is the possibility that Servius also created some of the rustic tribes, since the origin of 21 of the final total of 35 tribes could correspond to the beginnings of the Republic or to the monarchical period. This is stated by ancient sources, particularly Fabio Píctor, although it is considered more likely that in this reform only the four urban tribes were created and that the surrounding territory was divided into pagi or regions.
The reform replaced the old system of Romulean tribes and curiae, linked to the rule of aristocratic families and to ethnic origin or birth, with another in which only the place of residence had significance. Together with the institution of the census and the centuriate organization, it meant the redefinition, or perhaps the authentic establishment, of the concept of Roman citizenship.
The Centuried Organization
Vatican Apostolic Library (Rome).
The classical sources affirm that, parallel to the reorganization of the tribes and for military purposes, Servius Tulio divided the population into five classes according to their wealth. Thus, according to the economic capacity of each citizen, understood as such of his family, the weapons that he had to pay for were regulated. Each of the classes would be subdivided into centuries, foreseeably originally composed of one hundred men, and there was also an equal number of centuries of iunores (men between 17 and 45 years old) and seniors (men between the ages of 46 and 60, assigned to the reserve or to defend the city). These five classes would act as infantry; 60 centuries iunores of the first three classes and 25 of the last two, with the complement of 18 additional centuries of cavalry, the equites. Tito Livio (Hist. Rom., 1.43) and Dionysus of Halicarnassus (Ant. Rom., 4.16-18) agree in offering very similar figures and only disagree on minor aspects, such as details of the weaponry required of each class and the treatment of minor centuries of workers or musicians, but it is unlikely that such a scheme could correspond to an actual structure of society in the VI a. C. used in practice to form an army since the centuries of the rich classes and seniors should have been much smaller than that of the poor classes and those of the iunores i>.
A simpler explanation would be that in the monarchical era the population was divided between those who could be equipped to form part of the army (the classis) and the rest of the population (the infra classem). The centuriate organization would be much simpler than described (more in keeping with the political situation of the IV< century or III BC) and would have served as the basis for the creation of the centuries-old elections: an assembly of this This type, in which no century has a territorial basis, would have limited the power of the patrician families with respect to the domain they held in the curiae comitia and, therefore, reinforced the control of the king.
The Census
Once the organization was established, the citizens, that is, the adult men, had to be framed in their tribe, in their century and in their class, in fact that is what marked their citizenship. This was the purpose of the census that, exceptionally for antiquity, in Rome was repeated at regular intervals, about five years at the time of the republic. The sources attribute to Servio Tulio, in addition to his institution, the carrying out of four censuses (Val. Máx., Memorable Facts and Sayings, 3.4.3). The officials in charge of the task (the censor's magistracy was created later, in 443 BC) they performed sacrifices and a procession on the Champ de Mars around the citizens gathered there. The rite was called lustrum and those who celebrated it were said to found the lustrum, seen as a new symbolic constitution of the city. Thus, Servius Tullius, as responsible for the first census, is considered by ancient sources as a second founder of Rome.
One of the purposes of the census was to classify citizens according to their wealth, drawing at least a basic distinction between those fit for military service, the adsidui (a category that probably included both to the classis as to the infra classem), and those without possessions who were not called to arms except in cases of great emergency, the proletarii. This need could be related to a fragment of Timaeus (FgrHist, 566 F.61) also collected by Pliny (N.H., 33.43) in which Servius Tulio is related to the Introduction of the coin in Rome. If true, it could be the minting of the aes signatum, bronze ingots with a standardized weight and marked with the symbol of the “dry branch”, which have been found both in Latium and in Etruria. and in various places in central and northern Italy.
The Army
Clusio (finals.VIIa. C.).
The archaic Roman army was formed from the three primitive Romulean tribes, each of which contributed 1,000 foot soldiers, at a rate of 100 for each of the 10 curiae that made up the tribes. The sources also suggest that at a certain moment the army doubled, a reform that is sometimes attributed to Tarquinio Priscus and other times to Romulus himself. Thus, the prior and posterior ramnes, ticies and lucers were created, which would give a total of 60 centuries. Servius Tulio's innovation would have consisted simply in varying the way in which the centuries were recruited, although it is also possible that if in the first census he carried out some 6000 citizens were counted in a position to be equipped as heavy infantry, that was the moment when that the sixty centuries were created. This hypothesis also explains the structure of the Roman army in the Republican era, when the typical legion was made up of half the number of soldiers (3,000 heavy infantry plus 1,200 velites): the army would be divided between the two consuls who came to share the command that previously it belonged to the king. To this army of 60 centuries of infantry would have to be added the 6 centuries of cavalry (the increase of 12 additional centuries probably occurred at the end of the century V BC), dimensions that at that time would make Rome the main power in central Italy.
The army thus reformed by Servius Tullius would follow the hoplitic model inherited from the Greeks. The typical weaponry and associated tactic, the phalanx, spread throughout the Italian peninsula throughout the VII century B.C. C. and were already in common use around the year 600 B.C. C., when they appear represented in numerous Etruscan figurative motifs. The members of the classis would be those citizens with the economic capacity to equip themselves as hoplites: heavy armor and the round shield (clipeus, the Roman version of the hoplon) adapted to the classic tactics of the ranks of soldiers that made up the phalanx.
The Latin League and the Temple of Diana on the Aventine
Servius Tullius is also credited with founding the temple of Diana located on the Aventine, which was probably an open enclosure with an altar. The commemorative inscription still existed in the time of Augustus, where Dionysius of Halicarnassus himself may have consulted it. Diana was a goddess closely linked to the common rites of the cities of the Latin League and the inscription, probably identifiable with the lex arae Dianae in Aventino, contained the regulation of the festivities and assemblies of the members of the league (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom., 4.26.5).
Oil on canvas. Jean Bardin (c. 1765).
Overthrow and death
Servio Tulio was overthrown and assassinated by his own son-in-law Lucio Tarquinio, son (or grandson, the chronology of the Tarquins was already controversial in antiquity) of his predecessor Tarquinio Priscus. According to the version of Tito Livio Tarquinio appeared in the forum accompanied by armed men and summoned the senators to denounce Servio as an illegitimate king:
Then he began to insult him... saying that... after his father's abusive death, without establishing the usual interregno, without meeting the elections, without the suffrage of the people, without the ratification of the Senate, he had occupied the throne as a gift of a woman.Liv., Hist. Rom., 1.47.10
Servius Tulio warned, he went to defend himself and in the resulting confusion between the respective supporters it was Tarquin himself who threw the king down the stairs towards the forum, leaving him half dead. According to Livio's version, Servius Tullius was executed by his persecutors, and later his own daughter Tullia, Tarquinio's wife, ran over the corpse with the car she was driving (Liv., Hist. Rom. , 1.48).
Regardless of the legendary content of history conveyed by literary tradition, the Roman monarchy was not hereditary. Although Tarquinius claimed royal ancestry for him in the face of Servius Tullius's servile origin, he had no more claim to the throne than the sons of Ancus Marcius had when Tarquinius Priscus was murdered; In any case, he inherited the title although he was remembered as a true tyrant, cruel and capricious who went down in history as the Superbus , Tarquin the Proud. Being the last king, this may reflect an aristocratic hatred of tyrants who used to rely on the mob to stay in power. In any case, the same tradition remembers Servius Tullius as the most beloved and beneficent king of Rome.
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